Entrepreneurs Ask... Should I use articles from other authors if they contain errors? Can I make changes to the articles?

You’re searching for content for your newsletter and access the many resources available to find one that’s perfect for your market. However, the article you chose contains several grammatical and spelling errors. What to do? What to do?

The best response came from Lisa Manyon at Write on Creative ~ Creative Writing Services. She says, “As a professional courtesy, contact the author and let her know you'd like to use the article in your newsletter, but want to know if you can change the few errors you found. Give her the specific occurrences. Most times, authors will allow you to change the content if it contains spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors. Obviously, they doesn’t authorize you to make any other changes. An added benefit to making contact is to introduce yourself and offer your services.” Brilliant idea, Lisa!

Keep in mind that the content of any article is the intellectual property of the author. You cannot change ANYTHING without prior authorization.

So, what if you cannot reach the author in time to distribute your email or you asked for permission and didn’t hear back? In this case you need to decide whether or not to use the article.

It’s okay to use the article even if it contains a few errors... especially if it’s content-rich. However, the last thing you want is for your audience to think YOU overlooked them. This makes you look unprofessional. If you decide to use the article, preface it by stating, “Sourced as-is from [name the source].”

If you think the content isn’t worth using because there are simply too many errors or you cannot get authorization to make the changes, find another article instead. There are plenty of online sources and authors willing to let you use of their articles in exchange for a bio mention – which is usually at the end of the article.